Merchandise display stands are available in a wide variety of shapes, in different sizes, and made of different materials for displaying a variety of goods in a manner designed to catch the eye of shoppers passing such a stand. The object of any merchandise display stand is to display the goods attractively, so that the shoppers' attention is drawn to the goods. If the stand achieves this purpose, sales of the particular goods which are displayed on it may be greatly increased over sales which would otherwise occur if the goods were displayed in a less attractive manner.
Lighted or flashing electric signs, demonstrations, animated displays and the like also have been employed in an effort to increase the sales of various products. Demonstrations and moving exhibits, however, are relatively expensive and generally cannot be employed over a sustained period of time. Usually these are used for initial introductions or for limited-time concentrated sales promotion to increase the acceptance of a product.
Over the long term, the most effective merchandise display stand for displaying goods, either to shoppers or in trade shows, are those which confront the shopper with a large number of packages of the particular goods to be sold in a manner where those goods cannot escape the attention of even the most casual shopper or passerby. In retail stores, display stands or display areas which most effectively accomplish this purpose are often located at the ends of various rows of counters or display shelves. In the alternative, if a store has wideaisles, free-standing display bins or stack displays of the goods are often employed by locating such displays in areas which must be passed by most, if not all, of the shoppers in the store.
Often free-standing merchandise display stands or those which are located at the ends of the counters or rows of shelves in the store, are used in a particular location for a limited time. Then the display is moved to another location or is stored for a period of time until it is reused. Storage space is always scarce, so it is important that a display stand uses minimum storage space when it is not in use.
If the individual merchant is responsible for providing his own display stands, they may not be appropriate for packages of goods of different sizes or may not display some packages in the most effective manner. As a consequence, it is desirable from the manufacturer's standpoint to supply display bins, stands or display racks to display his particular goods in the most effective manner. This is commonly done. When a manufacturer, however, supplies a display from which he desires to have his goods merchandised or sold, the cost of the display necessarily must be added into the overall costs of marketing the goods. Accordingly, in order for any manufacturer to remain price competitive, the cost of additional items such as display stands and the like, should be kept as low as possible while still achieving the desired result of increasing sales of the goods.
From the merchant's standpoint, since space is always at a premium in any retail store, any display of goods of any manufacturer generally must be as limited as possible, consistent with the desires of the merchant to display and sell a wide variety of goods generally from a number of different manufacturers. Thus, if a manufacturer is going to convince a merchandiser or retailer to set up an eye-catching display of that particular manufacturer's goods, it is incumbent upon the manufacturer to accomplish his desired purposes with a minimum amount of floor space. If this can be done, his chances of gaining acceptance by merchants are much better than if a display stand or bin for those goods requires a large amount of floor or shelf space.
In an effort to meet the above requirements, a number of merchandise display stands have been developed on free standing bases and having a central pole or support member vertically extending from such base. Various compartments or shelves then are disposed about the central pole. These compartments may or may not revolve, depending upon the particular use to which the display stand is to be placed. Such stands do achieve the purpose of creating a maximum eye catching display of the goods with a minimum of space and have found wide-spread acceptance for displaying a wide variety of good. Problems still exist, however, in the cost of producing such stands and in shipping and storing them.
It is desirable to provide a merchandise display stand which occupies a minimum of space, and which is capable of displaying a large number of goods or packages of goods in an eye catching and attractive manner. It also is desirable for such a display stand to display the goods in a manner which makes them easily accessible by the shopper and from which the goods may be easily removed for examination and purchase. It also is desirable to construct the parts of such a collapsible display stand in a manner which readily is adaptable to displaying packages of goods of different sizes or which permits the display of different sizes of packages of goods in the same display. Finally, it is desirable to construct a display stand of inexpensive materials and of parts which may be shipped and stored in a form requiring very little space.